As crowds of New Yorkers point up at the smoking wreckage on the roof, Davros calls somebody and tells them to accelerate the hit on President Hassan; there's no knowing how much Victor told CTU before he died.
On the roof, Cole reports to Hastings that two field agents have been killed. The chopper was supposed to have anti-ballistic defense. Why didn't it work? And why didn't they have another team checking the nearby buildings? Jack tells Hastings that the suspect is someone close to Hassan. Hastings orders Jack to come to CTU for debriefing. At CTU, Dana has a lead: there was an unauthorized access into one of the UN's secure databases. She and Chloe are assigned to trace it.
At the UN, as Presidents Taylor and Hassan take questions from reporters, Hastings calls Weiss and tells him to call off the conference. Weiss refuses; the treaty is important. At a break in the questioning, Weiss privately brings Taylor up to speed, while Hassan calls Meredith and arranges to meet her privately in his office. Meanwhile, Arlo has run diagnostics and found that the anti-ballistics picked up the missile, but didn't fire. He doesn't know why. Dana and Chloe find that Meredith was the digital intruder, and she downloaded security protocols, UN schematics and Hassan's itinerary. When they find that Meredith is at the UN, they alert UN security, who apprehend Meredith just as she's about to meet up with Hassan. Hassan is bundled in the opposite direction by UN security head Manning, who tells Hassan that they just got a call from CTU about a threat to his life. Hassan, in shock, watches Meredith as she is dragged away.
At CTU, Dana reports that the stolen files were found on Meredith's laptop. However, Chloe thinks it's all a little too convenient; it's like somebody wanted them to find Meredith. Hastings, annoyed with Chloe's belligerence, takes her off the floor and assigns her to Jack's debriefing. Jack and Cole arrive. Jack's surprised the insider was caught so quickly. Hastings takes Cole aside and asks him to falsify his report so as to cover up that Hastings didn't give Cole all the people on the ground he asked for; it'll trigger an internal review. Cole protests lying on record, but Hastings asks for faith in him... the same faith Hastings showed in Cole when he hired him despite his youth and inexperience.
Jack calls Kim, who insists on coming to CTU to pick Jack up. Chloe debriefs Jack, and shares her suspicions with him. She found surveillance footage of a man entering and leaving Meredith's building, right when the intrusion into the UN servers occurred. Maybe he planted the files on her computer. Jack doesn't want to get involved; he wants to give his statement and leave. Chloe persists. If Meredith's been framed, then the assassin still has somebody close to Hassan.
At the UN, Dalia excoriates Hassan for letting Meredith get so close to them; he put them all in danger. Farhad arrives; they speak privately in the hallway. Farhad asks for the truth about Hassan's relationship with Meredith. Hassan confesses it started three months ago, after a fight with Dalia. Farhad exhorts him to deny their affair; it will destroy his credibility. As Hassan leaves, Farhad makes a call... to Davros, who tells him to press Hassan harder to deny the affair. Meredith must be discredited so that CTU won't suspect they have the wrong person. They only need another hour. He'll be ready to move by then.
Dana asks Arlo, who has a crush on her, to decrypt a file from Meredith's computer. She then gets an unsettling from Kevin Wade, who says he knows her by her real name... Jenny Scott, a wild girl he knew way back when. Dana tells him if he calls again, she'll call the police, but Kevin's unfazed. Dana hangs up on him. Cole arrives, and she clings to him. She says she's sorry she's been so distant. She just doesn't want to lose him.
Meredith is brought into CTU, where she is harangued by Hastings, who doesn't believe her protests of innocence. He orders for her to be interrogated. Jack, on his way out, tries to convince Hastings of Chloe's theory, but he won't listen. As Jack leaves, Chloe protests that she's always helped him. She's done crazy things for Jack. She can't do this alone. Jack's apologetic and torn, but he says he can't help her. Not this time. He meets Kim and Terri in the parking lot. He's ready to leave with them, but Kim says that Chloe called her and filled her in. She can't believe that Jack could walk away from this. If Chloe's right and something happens, she knows that Jack will never forgive himself. If he wants to stay, he won't be letting Kim down. Jack promises to be on the first place to L.A. as soon as he's done. Teri is heartbroken; grandpa promised he was coming home with them today. As the car drives away, Jack, all business, turns back into CTU and begins barking orders to a grateful Chloe.
At the UN, the talks reconvene. President Taylor thanks President Hassan for continuing. He asks if CTU is certain that Meredith is involved in the plot against his life. Taylor says she's being questioned as they speak. Meanwhile, Chloe can find no trace of the intruder into Meredith's apartment. She needs access to CTU's security satellite drones, but the archives are in Arlo's station and Chloe doesn't have clearance. Jack tells her to hack in, and she finds a grainy video of the man emerging and hailing a cab. She gets the cab's medallion number, and Jack tells her to call the cab company and find out where it went. Jack needs a weapon. Chloe takes his palm print so he can gain access to the armory.
Dana calls her sister, Ruth, back home in Rock Springs, Arkansas. She says that Kevin Wade found her, and accuses her of telling him how to find her; she's the only one who knows where she is. Ruth denies it; she didn't even know he was out of jail. She says not to let him ruin her life. Dana's scared she'll lose everything. Arlo approaches and Dana hangs up. Somebody's hacked into his computer... from inside CTU.
Meredith is interrogated by Hastings. When she avoids talking about her affair with him, her protestations that she only ever interviewed Hassan read as a lie, further convincing Hastings he's got the right suspect. Dana interrupts, and it can't wait: it's about Jack Bauer.
Jack uses his palm print to get into the armory and begins filling his backpack with weaponry, but before he can leave, a security detail catches him. Hastings and Cole arrive. Hastings is about to have Jack detained, but Jack blackmails him. Cole didn't report on Hastings' failure to secure the chopper sent to pick up Victor, and if Hastings lets Jack pursue this, Jack won't say anything either. Hastings reluctantly agrees, convinced that Jack's wasting his time.
In Queens, Davros arrives at the home of Maggie and Jim Koernig. Jim's an NYPD officer, a traffic cop on the UN security detail... and so, apparently, is Davros. Davros, sporting a Queens accent, asks Jim to trade shifts with him. Jim says he can't; he's got a meeting with his son's teacher. Sean's been acting up in school. Davros says he's sorry - and pulls out a gun. Reverting to his Eastern European accent, he forces Jim to duct tape Maggie's mouth, then asks him to call Captain Ravello and tell him he's sick and Davros is filling in. When Jim hesitates, Davros shoots Maggie in the leg, and tells Jim that next time, he won't miss the bone. Jim complies, begging Davros to leave his wife alone.
